


The Road Not Taken

by aislingyngaio



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-16
Updated: 2015-05-16
Packaged: 2018-03-30 19:36:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,003
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3949081
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aislingyngaio/pseuds/aislingyngaio
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Grant Ward dreams of a nightmare. Season 2 fix it fic.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Road Not Taken

**Author's Note:**

  * For [AstridV](https://archiveofourown.org/users/AstridV/gifts).



He came awake with a gasp, the horror of that final scene in his dreams churning his stomach, making him insensible to the tears rolling down his face.

_He'd shot her. He'd shot her. He'd---_

"Grant? What's wrong?" In his panic, he didn't quite register her voice or the flare of their bedside lamp, and yelped in fear and terror when Kara gripped his hand, repeatedly calling, "Grant. Grant. It's OK. It's OK."

It took a few seconds before his eyes adjusted on her, and then he was almost overwhelmed with the relief that mixed in with the lingering terror as he hugged her fiercely against him, toppling her off her feet and onto his comforter. "You're all right. You're OK. Oh my god. You're _all right_..."

Kara hugged him back as tightly as he held onto her, eyes welling up in empathy as he cried silent tears in between reassuring himself of her safety.

"I'm OK, I'm right here. Nothing's happened, Grant. We're OK."

It took a long time for his heartbeat to slow to a normal pace, or for their embrace to loosen to a cuddle. Only then did Kara ventured tentatively, "Bad dream?"

Only a tightened grip on her hand answered her.

She waited, then continued, "Was it the same dream?"

He swallowed, trembling slightly. "Yes and no. It's never the same, and yet, it is. Always a different dream, but always the same theme."

"Revenge?"

"Yes." Another tightened grip. "Only you got killed. You were killed because we-- because I--"

"Shhhhh..." she whispered, even as she recalled some of her own dreams. "Breathe, Grant. I'm OK. We're both OK. It's just the therapy. Dr Garner said we needed to face our fears, and it's never easy having to open your wounds during therapy. And maybe..." Kara turned her head away, staring unseeingly out their window. "Maybe it's better that we dream of it, rather than actually do it, you know?"

"Yeah..." was Grant's only reply, as he leaned his head towards her, seeking instinctual comfort. "Yeah I know."

She turned and laid her head on his shoulder, feeling yet not feeling the barrier of her mask rub against his cotton pyjamas. She would never have her real face again, or be able to take back those weeks and months of Hydra brainwashing, of murder and blood and... And yet... and yet, meeting Grant made it much more bearable. He'd helped her so much, even when neither of them had anything, even when he was prone on a pallet recovering from his bullet wounds, and... he was the one who found them Dr Garner.

She gave a little chuckle then. "Remember how freaked out he was when we first met?"

Grant was puzzled for a moment, then connecting the dots, he smiled ironically. "I'm not sure that's him freaking out. But he _did_ look rather unnerved that you look like _her_."

"He went back to being a professional, at least, once he knows what's up. Then again, you said he freelanced for SHIELD?"

"Hmm... he must've seen freakier things in his day. No wonder he prefers lecturing these days."

Kara smiled softly, then, placing her other hand over their joined grip, she murmured, "I'm so glad he's seeing you too, even if you do get these nightmares after his sessions."

Grant unconsciously curled his other hand into a fist, as if he, like her, could see the blood on his hands and didn't want to. "Better in dreams than in reality, hmm?"

"No more bloodshed," she echoed, her voice seeking to promise, though she was unsure whether it was him or herself she was trying to convince. "There's no one to force us any more."

They stayed there for a long time, just him and her on his ridiculous single bed in one of the last safehouses he and Garrett had used. _Screw you, John,_ he thought resentfully, finally being able to be angry about the older man months after his death. _You can't tell me what to do any more, so screw you._

"I'm all right now, Kara," Grant finally whispered, kissing her forehead gently. "Go back to bed. I'm sorry I woke you."

Kara nodded and moved back to her bed. "You sure you don't mind coming along to meet my mom?"

"Nah..." Grant muttered as they both settled under their blankets again. "I'm happy for you. And at the very least we'd know right away whether we need to visit Selwyn again for adjustments. I don't trust that man."

Kara laughed. "You're just saying that because you let him go after he altered my mask. You said the same thing about the hacker who traced my personal file from the leaked SHIELD documents. God forbid you trust someone you can't control."

"I trust _you_ ," he threw back emphatically, mock glaring at her from across the bedside table.

She softened her laugh into a reassuring smile. "Me too," she replied, before dimming the light once again, plunging the room into darkness. As their eyes adjusted to the change in visibility, with only the weak moonlight streaming through the room, they found each other still looking at the other, as if afraid to fall asleep again.

Afraid to fall into the pit of darkness that their subconscious dreams held.

"Maybe we should get a trailer, you know?" Kara finally whispered into the darkness. "Be constantly on the road. No address, no paper trail. No senator brothers," he huffed at that, though Kara could still feel the tension beneath his bravado at the mention of Christian, "or SHIELD, or Hydra. No war for us to fight in."

He was silent for a moment, then smiled sadly through the darkness. "Yeah, a van would be too small for the both of us, wouldn't it?" Kara's brow furrowed at that cryptic rejoinder, but Grant finally rolled back into his sleeping posture, murmuring "G'nite, Kara".

Sighing, Kara waited until his breathing slowed into a restless sleep, before replying in return, "Goodnight, Grant."

_\- Finis -_


End file.
